Pfizer expanding force in China

As Pfizer Inc. downsizes its workforce domestically, the drug giant is forging ahead with an alliance in China that will see 600 new jobs by year's end.

Bloomberg reported this week that Pfizer and its joint-venture partner, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, plan to more than double the number of workers in its alliance by the end of the year, when the workforce will total about 1,000. Another 500 employees are planned the following year.

The partnership is aimed at making and marketing a wide variety of drugs, with Pfizer people dominating the sales side an Hisun folks taking most of the manufacturing positions.